Half term was upon us and, as it’s the February one, a ski trip beckoned. Our usual hotel was booked in Bosnia near Sarajevo, ski-in ski-out on the 1984 Olympics mountain. A check of the snow conditions a week in advance indicated favourable conditions, and we were off. Flights via Cologne (there is no direct UK-Bosnia service sadly) with the newly rebranded Eurowings, evidently the mishap in Spain did for the old Germanwings name. Returns were to be via Belgrade with Air Serbia with an overnight layover to spend an evening with relatives, and the local beer/wine.
On arrival conditions on the mountain were very windy, and most lifts were closed. One low button lift operated, but queues were substantial on the Sunday with plenty of Valentines Day-trippers filling the slope.
Then, the next morning, disaster had struck. Overnight, temperatures had soared and it had tipped with rain. The snow was vanishing, all lifts were shut. The forecast for the week was for more rain and warm conditions. Sigh. What to do? Well, it’s obvious to anyone like those of us here, surely? Road Trip. A 9-seat minibus was booked immediately with Europcar for our party of 8, and it was delivered to our hotel at lunchtime. The destination? The Slovenian Alps.
What will arrive, we wonder – I guess Renault Master, son guesses VW and bro-in-law guesses Mercedes Vito. The bus arrives, and it’s a VW Transporter 2.0TDI 75KW, 9 seater, in black. 15000 kilometres on the clock, slight crack high up on the windscreen (noted at handover), but otherwise pretty much brand new. Myself and one other are nominated as drivers for the insurance, the cross-border green card is issued and we’re away.
I had my reservations about such little power in such a vehicle, with 8 people on board plus luggage, but I needn’t have worried. It was easily capable of the 130km/h limit, and managed to hit 160km/h on the motorway without complaint (allegedly). Just testing for a bit, of course. Our destination was a 7 hour drive away according to my satnav, which I’d loaded with maps for Bosnia, Croatia and Slovenia using the hotel wifi before departure. I have a lifetime European licence from Sygic on my android phone, I think it cost about 25 pounds. Turned out to take 9 hours, including rest stops and border crossings. There are passport/customs checks between Croatia and Slovenia, despite both being in the EU.
The bus drove very smoothly and quietly, there was plenty of room for all and it was just about comfortable enough. The driver’s seat was far superior to the passenger ones, however. Vehicle spec was pretty basic, but sufficient having aircon to keep the windows clear, although it didn’t have a rear screen wash wipe, which was a bit of a poor show.
The VW proves prodigiously economical for what it was – 2 tanks of fuel used in total including plenty of running around each day to get from hotel to the ski lift – about 30 mins each way. It dealt with the mountainous Bosnian roads with ease, passing HGVs when the opportunity presented itself quickly and comfortably. Motorways in Croatia and Slovenia were excellent, and pretty empty. Most cars seemed to be Austrian/German/Swiss registered large estates with boots filled to the roof, evidently gastarbeiters pinging between their original countries and the land of their work.
The first refuel was performed at a station with pump attendants, yes they still exist. The second was more fun – no attendants and we couldn’t find the filler cap. WTF? Eventually I locate it behind a flappy panel next to the front passenger door, which can only be accessed with the door itself open. Wish the rental company had pointed this out. The ladies in our group found it hard to close the sliding rear door properly form inside, necessitating someone being outside to give it a proper shove.
The scenery was spectacular all the way thorough Bosnia, the gorges south of Banja Luka being a particular highlight. We pass wartime underground tunnel entrances, where Tito hid from the Germans, which are now being used as offices and technical stations for a hydro-electric power scheme on the River Vrbas, which is stunningly green of colour for a river. The flatlands of Croatia towards Zagreb, however, stand in stark contrast. Flat, dull, damp, grey. Boring. Normal service resumes shortly after the Slovene border as the Alpine foothills begin. On the outward journey dark has fallen and snow starts belting down in huge gobs – passing trucks becomes a bit of a bumclencher on steep, winding unlit inclines, and son decides it looks like we’re flying the Millennium Falcon as it makes the jump to light speed.
All in all great fun, and thoroughly worth doing – the bus was returned back to Sarajevo and we hop on the short flight to Belgrade to start the journey home.
And now – work again until July. Gah.
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Volkswagen T5 Transporter Shuttle - Unexpected Road trip - Dutchie
